Eastwood’s empty chair moment

The quadrennial conference, which has been sponsored by the Institute of Politics since 1972, was particularly large and revealing this year with representatives from all the GOP primary campaigns and the president’s team.

Listening to the GOP campaigns revisit their losses was painful at times but also offered some insights into how a campaign will delude itself to get the brass ring.

“Look, we think that ad helped us,” Romney strategist Stuart Stevens said of the much-mocked TV ad the Romney campaign ran in the closing weeks of its Ohio campaign that, in the view of many, ultimately backfired on the GOP nominee.

The adclaimed “Obama took GM and Chrysler into bankruptcy and sold Chrysler to Italians who are going to build Jeeps in China.”

Chrysler quickly put out a statement denying it was moving North American production to China and the president slammed Romney for scaring people into thinking they were losing their jobs. Fact-checkers also dubbed the ad misleading.

“There are two ways to look at this,” Stevens explained.

“I know it brought up a difficult subject for Romney,” he said, referring to the criticism Mitt Romney endured over his infamous op-ed in The New York Times headlined “Let Detroit Go Bankrupt.” “But it provided people with information and reassured them and reduced the impact of the ads that have been run against him.”

Top Obama strategist David Axelrod shot back to much laughter: “We think it helped us, too.”

Obama media adviser Jim Margolis added: “It reinforced a very clear message that was critical in Ohio, in terms of the auto industry and what the president’s positions had been. Having that become part of the closing conversation was very helpful to us.”

2. Clint Eastwood would bring to the Romney campaign what he brings to the silver screen.

Romney’s top strategists said they believed having Eastwood speak at the GOP convention in Tampa would draw a larger viewing audience, and they did not have a clue that he was going to talk to an empty chair. The aging actor’s antics ended up becoming the story of the night, upstaging Romney’s convention address — and not in a good way.

“Personally, I don’t think it was a big deal,” said Stevens, who must have been watching another channel when Eastwood spoke.

A few minutes before Eastwood took to the podium, Romney strategist Russ Schriefer said he asked the icon whether he would simply express the thoughts he had at two previous fundraisers, where he reportedly made a strong case for Romney.

Meanwhile, Obama campaign manager Jim Messina said the Eastwood performance was a windfall for his operation. “I remember Teddy [Goff] running into my office saying this thing was exploding online. You could see immediately what a disaster it was for him, both with our people, swing voters,” Messina said. “No one thought it was a good move.”

Digital director Goff said that Eastwood’s shtick of pretending to talk to the president in the chair riled the Democratic base.

“Our people found it offensive in a really visceral way,” Goff said. “Such a personal show of disrespect for the president was very, you know, sort of helpful to us.”

"3. Running for president a month after back surgery is a smart move." (Politico)

It is delusional to think Perry's back surgery or back pain was the cause of his failure. Perry's biggest delusion, as with Bachman and Cain, was thinking he was knowledgeable enough to be president of the United States. The debates were most helpful in making that apparent, whatever their other drawbacks. I hope we see many primary debates in both parties in the future; they are helpful to citizens in winnowing the field even if they aren't all that helpful to particular candidates. Even seeing the narrow range of questions or debate themes considered important was eye-opening; it became clear after a while that Republicans weren't even interested in some of the more important issues of our times.

One important delusion not making the list but should be on it is the media and campaign strategists and candidates believing in the "enthusiasm factor." Or more accurately, believing they can accurately gauge such a thing on anecdotal stories and rally numbers. The Romney people were joined by other Republicans in pushing and spreading the fiction of the "Republican edge in enthusiasm and intensity." The deluded media helped the idea of greater Republican enthusiasm become viral. It was a cheap psychological trick, a hope for a self-fulfilling prophecy: if enough people believe Republicans are psyched and eager to flood the polling places Election Day, then maybe it will goose their enthusiasm and get them out to vote for the Republican. What an embarrassing delusion that turned out to be.

I thought it was delusional for Romney (after sixteen televised debates) to think he could mount the presidential debate stage and before our very eyes (in three successive debates) flip-flop on nearly every position of importance he had taken during the prior year without being seen by voters as a total fraud and con man. One could say I was correct (since Romney lost the election), but I fear I was wrong. Now I'm scared a better confidence trickster and unprincipled shape-shifter could actually win and become our human chameleon president.

I loved the DNC in Charlotte, the coward Dems marched out a phony wr hero to "honor" the troops while showing planes and warships as the backdrop. Of course, the planes were Turkish and the ships were Russian. Morons.

This article makes me draw the similarities of the campaigns and The Hunger Games movie. Like most things in life... These men and women may have gotten involved with politics to make the country a better place but the motives morph into the thirst and therefore the quest for power. This need for power drives campaign ships onto the rocks because the crew and captains didn't put cotton in their ears. A whole lotta ships crashed in this election.

Have you gotten a ticket to one of the Romney inauguration parties yet? You, Perceptions, and that guy from Unskewed Polls could meet in person and laugh over Romney's resounding victory. I hear that Dick Morris and Karl Rove are going to give speeches at the inauguration, and that Clint Eastwood is going to dance with a chair.

Poor poor Angeleze. There is nothing delusional about the FACT that Barack Hussein Obama won re-election overwhelmingly... by more than 3 Million popular votes and over 100 Electoral Votes. Perhaps, for the time being, you need to change your user name by DelusionalEyez; perhaps Can'tSeeRealityEyez Now... about Candy Crowley "reading" from a transcript. Do yourself and the rest of us a favor please. Look up the word preparation... and advance ... as in advance preparation. That was a foreign policy debate. It was to be expected that Benghazi would be a major topic. Being that the r/w nutter patrol was foaming at the mouth about the issue of who said what and when about the events in Benhazi, it would stand to reason, except for someone such as yourself, that she would walk in prepared with what the President said in those early days after the attacks. She would have those pesky little things called FACTS already in mind.

I don't think anything came close to symbolizing the disconnect between the GOP and the rest of the country as starkly as the reaction to Clint Eastwood's speech. The tea party types I knew were thrilled, and thought Eastwood did a bangup job. The few non-GOP people I knew who followed the Republican convention were shaking their heads and saying "Did you see that? Sad. He must be getting senile." None of them were angry at Eastwood, and the talk usually moved toward spaghetti westerns and Dirty Harry after the chair was mentioned, but no one talked about any other RNC speeches.

This sort of cluelessness is only going to get worse for the Republicans, as more of their base shuffles off this mortal coil.

As a registered independent I can honestly Mr Obama and his team of yes men or czars who are look like fools rely on twitter and texting and ignoring 99% of the true facts to be discuss and leve ou Mr Obama has dual citizenship.

At least 30 sates are willing and ready to split from the country like it or not and yes will over come the so call fiscal cliff or bunny hop as Mr Howard dean calls it.

The mandates from 2009 and 2010 or gone and it is about time a bipartisan Congress take control.

@Monjonla re your #18 -You said "... look like fools rely on twitter and texting and ignoring 99% of the true facts" So let me, please, see if I get you correctly tweets and texting are, perforce fact-free... rather like Faux News. Is that what you are saying. In addition you are saying there were no other avenues used by the Obama campaign and Obama himself to deliver his message to the public... No town halls,...no rallies. He just sat in the oval office for months on end tweting and texting. Lord have mercy this is pathetic. Perhaps one more delusion is that the r/w nutters are informed in any way, shape or form.